We had two stops in Turkey – short stop in Ephesus and finished up the cruise in Istanbul and tacked on another day. I hadn’t been to Istanbul since 2002 (i had a lot of business trips there from 2000-2002) and we did do a short trip to Ephesus with the family. Link from 2001 – https://my-jc.blog/2001/09/12/istanbul-september-2001/
Istanbul has changed a lot in 20 + years – population doubled to 16 million, politically less aligned with the US and EU, less secular (more women in hijab), and step change in infrastructure. Much cleaner and the vendors not as aggressive in pulling you into stores and much more enjoyable walking around.
Sultanahmet Square
First day was full on tourist stuff – The Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, Tokapi Palace, and cruise on the Bosphorus. Started with the Blue Mosque, it was free and all we had to do was wear some covering that was given to everyone – very serene and peaceful. We then walked across Sultanahmet Square to Hagia Sofia – which was not serene and peaceful – confusion on ticket purchase, which line to stand in, and did we need to cover up. In all took about an hour to get in. Impressive as it is 1,100 years older than the Blue Mosque (which is 400 year sold).
Blue Mosque
Hagia Sofia
We then walked across Sultanahmet Square to Hagia Sofia – which was not serene and peaceful – confusion on ticket purchase, which line to stand in, and did we need to cover up. In all took about an hour to get in. Impressive as it is 1,100 years older than the Blue Mosque (which is 400 years old). Hagia Sophia original served as a Christian church and was built around 500 BC as cathedral for the Byzantine Empire.
Tokapi Palace
We spent the afternoon at the Tokapi Palace which was the home of the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire. Much more impressive than I remember from 2001 – perhaps our memory is focused that we lost Alexandra for awhile while touring the palace. We tried to find the restaurant but it seems like it has been closed and renovated.
Several generations of Ottoman Sultans lived here – each building on new sections more elaborate than the prior and converted to a museum shortly after World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
After leaving Sultanahmet Square we had a nice walk back towards our hotel down a refurbished historic street and through a park.
Bosphorus Cruise
After a long day, finished off with a drink on the rooftop bar at the Conrad and headed to the Bosphorus Cruise. The cruise started off wholesome – lots of families and flags placed at the tables for the countries of the people on the boat. Then for about 20 countries they played folk music from the country and the people would dance – only the USA didn’t get called (there were 2 other USA tables)…never confirmed why. Then the belly dancer arrived – probably not what the families expected as she was very aggressive for “tips” and targeted Terry. But Terry was able to keep his money in his pocket and she skipped me for Sharon.
Basilica Cistern and the Galeta Tower
Our last day we went to the Basilica Cistern and the Galeta Tower – we had gone to neither on our prior visits. The Basilica Cistern was prominently featured in the Dan Brown book “Inferno” and is pretty impressive and worth a visit – just don’t confuse the signs for the other Cisterns like I did. The Galeta Tower is centrally located and worth a look if in the area. We didn’t go to the Bazaar – when checking when attractions open, all were open and I didn’t check the Bazaar – but it was closed on Sunday. But plenty of places to shop and we found a porcelain place operated by the son of the artist and we bought a vase and it was shipped and delivered within a couple of days of our return.
Great trip back and hope to go back to Turkey again.
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